


Intervention

by Laparoscopic



Category: El Goonish Shive
Genre: Kissing, M/M, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:22:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26618890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laparoscopic/pseuds/Laparoscopic
Summary: TeddxElliot. 'Nuff said!
Relationships: Ashley/Elliot Dunkel, Elliot Dunkel/Tedd Verres, Grace Sciuridae/Tedd Verres
Comments: 9
Kudos: 29





	Intervention

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to last year's flash-fic [_Oblivious Wand Waving_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20476628). Elliot and Tedd deal with the consequences of necking while under the influence of a prankster's magic wand.

Elliot and Tedd were playing video games and relaxing in Tedd’s basement, enjoying a rare Saturday free from excessive quantities of homework. A normal enough Saturday, aside from the fact that Elliot was playing while sitting on the couch, and Tedd was in his desk chair. Elliot tried not to think about why they were sitting that way.

“Hey, guys?” called Grace. “Could you come upstairs for a moment?”

Elliot and Tedd exchanged puzzled looks, then shrugged and paused their game. “Sure,” replied Tedd. They headed upstairs. Elliot was pretty sure he was just imagining Tedd’s gaze boring into his back as they climbed the stairs.

“Ah…where are you?” Elliot called, when he didn’t see Grace or Ashley in the kitchen or living room.

“In my room,” Grace replied.

They followed her voice to her room, where Ashley was also waiting. Oddly for her, Grace wasn't smiling.

“Hi, sweetie,” Elliot said to Ashley with a smile. She gave a small smile back, but she also looked unaccountably serious. 

Grace stepped around them and closed the door to her room. “Elliot. Tedd. This is an intervention.”

Elliot glanced at Tedd, to see if he knew what this was about, but he looked as puzzled as Elliot felt. He looked back at Grace, who was also looking unusually serious. “Intervention? That sounds kinda dire. What for?”

Despite Ashley’s serious demeanor, Elliot couldn’t help but notice she was bouncing up and down on her toes a little, like she did when she was excited about something. “The two of you have been ridiculously tense around each other for the past few weeks. Ever since that weird incident at the mall,” Ashley said.

At the mention of “that weird incident,” Elliot felt his face turn bright red, and he and Tedd shuffled a little bit away from each other. 

“Exactly! Like that!” exclaimed Grace, pointing at the two best friends who looked like they were doing their best to pretend that the other one wasn’t present. “The two of you were  _ kissing! _ And quite enthusiastically! You were—”

“We were under the influence of that magic wand,” protested Elliot. “We weren’t in our right minds!”

“Not by a long shot,” put in Tedd.

“And you’re avoiding the subject,” Grace said. “The point is, you two were necking  _ and liking it. _ We were there”—she exchanged a smirk with Ashley—“and you were both very, ah…”

“Passionate,” supplied Ashley. “And sexy to watch.”

“I was going to say,  _ aroused _ , but, yeah, that too,” said Grace.

“We were  _ not _ —” Elliot began indignantly, but his girlfriend cut him off. 

“Sweetie, if you’d been any harder, you would have ripped your jeans.”

“Well…” Elliot was looking around the room, studiously avoiding eye contact with  _ anybody _ . 

“You’re not getting out of this room until you’ve settled this between you,” said Ashley, as she opened the door and she and Grace backed out of the room. 

"Talk it out, kiss it out, or boink it out, we don't care which,” said Grace firmly.

" _ Boink? _ Seriously?" asked Elliot.

“ _ Yes _ , seriously, there’s even some lube on the bedside table in case you're both male at the time,” said Ashley. “You have our permission.”

“ _ Enthusiastic _ permission,” added Grace.

"That wasn't what I meant..." Elliot trailed off as the bedroom door closed, cutting them off from Grace and Ashley. Leaving him alone with Tedd.

He turned to his best friend and essayed a nervous smile. “Well. They’re certainly something, aren’t they?” Talking about their girlfriends seemed like a safer topic of conversation at the moment. 

“Oh, yeah,” agreed Tedd with a sigh. He sat down in Grace’s desk chair, leaving Elliot the bed. Elliot hesitated a moment, then chose to sit on the floor instead, leaning up against the bed. It seemed like a less loaded option. He couldn’t help but glance at the bedside table. Yup, there was a bottle labeled  _ Liquid Love _ , Ashley’s preferred brand of lube for anal sex. And what looked like at least a half dozen condoms.  _ Talk about overkill…  _ Elliot blushed and looked away.

Tedd’s lips twitched at Elliot’s choice of seating, but he didn’t say anything about it. After a long moment of awkward silence, Tedd sighed. “They have a point, you know.”

“What, that we need to boink?” joked Elliot nervously.

Tedd also turned a delicate shade of pink. “No, not that. But things between us have felt a little awkward ever since, uh, you know.” He clasped his hands in his lap and stared down at them. He began twiddling his fingers nervously.

Elliot shrugged. “Well. Yeah.” He ran a hand through his hair, and gave Tedd a hesitant smile. “I’ve only just recently figured out that my…sexual orientation. Isn’t quite as… _ rigid _ as I once thought it was.” Tedd snorted at Elliot’s word choice, and Elliot rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t  _ really _ going to rip my pants,” he muttered defensively. 

Tedd sighed. “Maybe not, but I certainly creamed my panties.” He still wasn’t making eye contact with Elliot.

“You  _ what? _ Oh, right, you were female at the time. While we were, uh, you know.”

“Yeah. So I don’t think your sexual orientation is entirely relevant here.”

“Well…” Elliot coughed, and looked away from Tedd. “Except for, um…”

After a few moments of silence, Tedd prompted, “Except for what?”

“Well…” Elliot resolutely turned to face Tedd. “Except that my reaction to you didn’t change when you shifted back to male. Not…not right away, anyway.”

“Oh.” Tedd managed to turn even pinker. 

Elliot sighed. “I’m sorry if I’ve been acting weird the past few weeks.”

Tedd shrugged. “It really isn’t just you. I’ve also been feeling awkward.” 

“Really?” Elliot cocked his head. “I kinda figured that, um, being gender-fluid and all, that sort of thing would be less of a bother for you.”

“Yeah, well…” Tedd grimaced and continued to stare at his hands, fidgeting in his lap. “I may be gender fluid, but I still have eighteen years of social conditioning telling me I shouldn’t be attracted to guys. Especially when I’m male.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess…that makes sense.”

“And besides…” Tedd peeked up through his bangs at Elliot for a moment before looking back down again. “I didn’t know your orientation had become more…flexible. And I had no interest in ruining our friendship.”

“Truth. I have no interest in ruining our friendship either.”

Tedd lifted his head and looked Elliot fully in the face. He smiled. “Well, I’m glad we’re in agreement on that.”

Elliot nodded. “Ellen told me—”

“I gotta admit—” Tedd spoke at the same time.

They both stopped and waited for the other to speak. After a moment of silence, they both laughed awkwardly, breaking a little of the tension. 

“After you,” Elliot said.

“No, no, after  _ you. _ What did Ellen say?”

“Ah. That I should try being a little more…honest about my feelings.” Now it was Elliot’s turn to look nervously at his hands in his lap. 

“You’ve never struck me as particularly dishonest.”

Elliot shook his head, a wry smile on his face. “It’s not that I’ve been actively lying, it’s more…lies of omission. What I haven’t been saying.” He took a deep breath, and looked Tedd square in the eyes. “The truth is, I’ve found you attractive for…longer than I might care to admit. Not just since that incident at the mall.”

“Oh,” Tedd said in a small voice. 

“Yeah. So…that’s been a large part of my awkwardness these past few weeks. Having that shoved to the forefront of my attention, instead of staying nicely buried.”

“Oh,” Tedd repeated. He didn’t look away from Elliot’s gaze, but Elliot couldn’t help but notice that Tedd was blinking rather rapidly.

“I mean, I have no interest in breaking up you and Grace, or me with Ashley,” Elliot hastened to add. 

“I don’t think they see you and me together as a problem,” said Tedd, a small smile returning to his face. 

Elliot snorted. “As long as she gets a full report,” he said, knowing his girlfriend all too well.

“Or gets to watch,” said Tedd, thinking of Grace.

“Or participate.” Which probably applied to both of their girlfriends, now that he thought about it.

“Yeah.”

They stared at each other, and Elliot couldn’t help but notice that Tedd’s breathing was a little fast. Although come to that, so was his. He could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest, making him feel like he’d just sprinted a mile. 

Tedd’s hands, which had been fidgeting in his lap, were folded rather primly and holding still. As if to hide something.

Elliot broke the silence. “Oh, fuck it, I’ll say it.” Then words got stuck in his throat, and he had to swallow a couple of times before he could go on. “You’re my best friend. I love you. And I think you’re hot as hell, whether you’re male or female.” He was almost panting with anxiety as he finished that admission, and he was pretty sure his face could be used as a fire starter. His nerve failed him, and he squeezed his eyes shut, afraid of what he might see on Tedd’s face.  _ Shit. Did I just say that? _

His ragged breathing and pulse pounding in his ears kept him from hearing when Tedd got down off the desk chair he was sitting in. So he jumped in surprise when Tedd laid a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he opened his eyes, to see Tedd kneeling beside him. He was biting his lower lip, and his eyes were bright. “Love you too, dude,” he said softly.

Elliot couldn’t help it, he giggled at that. “Dude. Yeah. You’re, uh…you’re not the only one with eighteen years of social conditioning, y’know?”

Tedd nodded sympathetically. “I’d like to kiss you again. Would you be more comfortable if I shifted to female first?”

Elliot thought about that for a moment. “Only if  _ you _ want to. I only ever want you to be whatever sex you want to be at the moment.”

Tedd’s bright eyes puddled with tears at that, and he smiled shyly at Elliot. “Thanks. That means a lot to me.”

“Of course.” Elliot hesitated a moment, to give Tedd a chance to change if he wanted to. When no change seemed to be forthcoming, he reached up and put his hand on gently on the back of Tedd’s head. He noticed Tedd was breathing as heavily as he was as he leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to Tedd’s. Tedd made a small  _ mmm _ of appreciation as he tentatively returned the kiss. Elliot felt a rush of heat spread from his lips to the tips of his ears at the sensation. They lingered for a long moment, then simultaneously pulled apart, each of them examine the other’s face for their reaction.

“We good?” asked Elliot.

Tedd huffed a breathless laugh. “I’d say you’re more than good.”

“ _ We’re _ more than good. I didn’t do that by myself.”

Tedd chuckled, and he shifted from kneeling beside Elliot to sitting beside him leaning against the bed. He fit easily under Elliot’s arm, and Elliot pulled him close as Tedd rested his head on his shoulder. “You feel good,” Elliot said.

“You too.” Tedd wrapped an arm across Elliot’s chest, hugging him. “D’you wanna…do you want to do more of that?”

“Oh, yeah. But first…”

“First?” Tedd pulled back to look Elliot in the eyes. Elliot smiled to see Tedd’s lovely eyes so close.

“First we should probably open that door and let our girlfriends in, unless we want them to explode from sexual tension.”

“Hmm. Maybe.”

“Maybe? You  _ want _ Grace to explode?”

“No. But…it might sound greedy of me, but…” Tedd’s expression turned bashful. “I’d like to have you all to myself for just a little while longer. If you don’t mind.”

Elliot considered that for a moment, and found the notion appealing. He wrapped an arm tightly around Tedd, and pulled him up into his lap. Tedd gave a small “Eep!” of surprise as he did so, then he laughed and moved his legs so he was straddling Elliot. Elliot gasped as he felt Tedd’s weight settle on his painfully erect cock, and he shivered as Tedd subtly rocked back and forth a little bit. 

From his position on Elliot’s lap, Tedd was looking a little bit down on Elliot. Elliot was surprised to find that looking  _ up _ at Tedd for a change was oddly arousing. “Yeah. We’ve waited long enough for this. They can wait another hour or so,” he agreed. He leaned forward and kissed the side of Tedd’s neck, provoking a startled gasp. 

Elliot ignored the quiet disappointed-sounding whine he could hear coming from the other side of the bedroom door.  _ This is our time _ , he thought, as Tedd cupped his face in both of his hands and leaned in for another passionate kiss. “Love you, Tedd.”

“Love you too, Elliot.”

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks to Zee McZed for bouncing ideas about this back and forth with me & proofreading.


End file.
